It’s cold and rainy in Austin for SXSW, lines are long inside at registration, and the outdoor tequilla party stages are wet and empty.

The steadfast Make: Live crew has taken the quiet start to test out our livestreaming camera rig (six modem cards! no tin hat!) and to line up interviews for our alt.SXSW coverage.

We’ve already got time planned with Stupid Fun Club, the X Prize Foundation, MakerBot, frogdesign, Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, and more.

If you’re at SXSW and you or your company have hardware, hacks, solutions, or ideas that you want to share with the MAKE audience, hash tag #makesxsw on Twitter or email sabrina@makerfaire.com to set up an interview.

For the fast track, follow #makesxsw on Twitter for updates, observations, and pix.  And stay tuned for the weather to clear and the SXSW action to heat up.